Statement on National Physician Suicide Awareness Day

Serving as a physician and being entrusted to help bring healing and hope to patients, and in some cases entire communities, is an unbelievable privilege and calling. Unfortunately, many of our medical professionals suffer in a place of deep despair that ultimately jeopardizes their life and personal well-being. 

 

Today, on National Physician Suicide Awareness Day, and every day, the Coalition for Physician Well-Being stands in support of physicians and health care professionals who may be in their darkest times. We urge anyone struggling with mental health emergencies to please seek help immediately. We call upon our professional colleagues to be vigilant for signs and symptoms of depression and suicide risk within our ranks and come alongside those in danger to provide support and encourage necessary interventions.

 

We all play a part in building and sustaining a culture of well-being for physicians. We as the medical community, and society as a whole, must continue to raise awareness of issues that negatively impact the health and wellness of practitioners, while also investing in resources that foster purpose and fulfillment. In doing so, we believe not only that lives will be saved, but more physicians will live in the wholeness and abundance they strive to cultivate for their patients.